Door construction



1968 E. H. WENZELBERGER 3,364,645

DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 50 24v Fig -2- INVENTOR. EDWARD H. WENZELBERGER ATTORNEY Jan. 23, 1968 E. H. WENZELBERGER 3,

DOOR CONS TRUCT ION 2 SheetsSheet Filed Feb. 18, 1965 IXVE'NTOR.

EDWARD H. WENZWRGER ATTOR N EY United States Patent Office 3,364,645 Patented Jan. 23, 1968 3,364,645 DOOR CGNSTRUCTION Edward H. Wenzeiberger, Easton, Pa., assiguor to Aliiancewall Corporation, Topton, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 433,731 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-615) This invention relates to an improved door which combines the lightness of wooden doors and the strength of metal doors; which is thermally and acoustically insulated; which is fire resistant; which is comparatively light and inexpensive to produce; which is warp-proof, which needs no painting, and which is easy to keep clean.

This invention further relates to an improved method of producing a door possessing all of the advantages above set forth.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specifications and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a door embodying my invention, certain parts being broken away to show the internal construction.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 22 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded view showing details of construction.

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, are sectional views looking in the direction of lines 44; 55; and 66 on FIG. 1, respectively.

A door embodying this invention includes upper and lower, horizontal frame members 10 and 12 and vertical side frame members 14 and 16, FIGS. 4 and 5, which are mitered and secured together by a fastener 18, FIG. 1 to form a rigid core, or frame of the desired shape and size.

To opposite sides of the frame are secured inner side walls 24} and 22 which form a compartment for receiving insulation 23. Inner walls 29 and 22 are made of any rigid natural, or synthetic material such as plywood, Celotex, or other hard natural or synthetic board and are glued to the frame. Also, side walls and 22 are large enough completely to cover the opposite sides of the rame, FIG. 3. If desired, instead of, or in addition to the glue, hard board side walls 20 and 22 may be screwed, or nailed, to the frame with the heads of the nails or screws countersunk.

To the outer surfaces of side walls 20 and 22 are secured enamelled or porcelained metal, outer side walls 24 and 26. These are glued to the inner hard board side wall 20 and 22. As can be seen from the drawings, the outer side walls are coextensive with the inner side walls and all frame members 10, 12, 14 and 16 are recessed, or grooved, as at 28 and 30 for the purpose hereinafter set forth, FIG. 2.

To close the open horizontal and vertical perimeters of the door, to clamp the ends of the inner and outer side walls to the intermediate frame and to provide a finished trim, I provide the short extrusions 32 and 34 for use on the top and bottom margins 16 and 12 of the door and the long extrusions 36 and 38 for use along the vertical margins of the door. Extrusions 32, 34, 36 and 58 are identical in structure and application and it is therefore thought that a description of one extrusion, such as upper extrusion 32, will suflice.

As best shown in FIG. 3, extrusion 32 includes a fiat wall 40, pendent outer walls 42 and 44, inner pendent walls 46 and 48, and an intermediate pendent pad 50. The outwardly facing surfaces of inner walls 46 and 48 are serrated, as at 52, and the lower edges of outer walls 42 and 44 are provided with inwardly facing bearing surfaces 54 which are preferably formed by relieving walls 42 and 44. It will be noted that the extrusions are mitered as at 58.

The method of constructing according to my invention, is as follows:

The Wooden frame members 10, 12, 14 and 16 are assembled and secured together in any suitable manner to produce a rigid frame. Insulation 23 may take the form of foam glass, fiber glass, polyurethan foam, fiber rock, etc., or the core may be hollow and reinforced with a ladder construction. Next, inner hard board side walls 20 and 22 are glued to outer side walls 24 and 26 and the laminated, or composite walls thus formed are glued to frame members 10, 12, 14 and 16. With parts thus far described secured together, the operator applies glue to the recessed surfaces 28 and 30 of upper frame 10, to that portion of said frame which is to be engaged by pad 50, to the inner surfaces of Walls 46 and 48, to serrated surfaces 52, and to the under surface of pad 50. The final step consists in forcing upper extrusion 32 downwardly over the marginal portion of the laminated frame. It will be noted that the application of extrusion 32 to the upper margin of the completed door body is a forced fit whereby serrations 52 will dig into the inner faces of hard board side walls 20 and 22 and whereby pendent walls 42 and 44 must be sprung outward slightly. By this arrangement, the upper margins of the laminations are firmly secured by the glue and by the action of serrations 52 and by the clamping pressure of bearing of surfaces 54 on the exterior of outer walls 24 and 26. The relief of wall 45 to either side of pad 56 and the relief of side Walls 42 and 44 to produce bearing surfaces 54, provides the necessary flexibility which permits the forced fit above described.

In addition to providing flexibility, pad 50 permits the use of a countersunk wood screw should delamination occur, or to reinforce or to repair the lamination, if so desired.

It will be understood that the bottom extrusion 34 and side extrusions 36 and 38, are identical with extrusion 32, and that they are applied to the bottom and sides of the door body in the same manner as extrusion 32.

The door is provided with vertically spaced hinges such as that shown in FIG. 1. The hinge structure may be conventional and hence need not be described. It may be pointed out, however, that the Wall of the extrusion to which the hinge is applied is preferably notched whereby the hinge plate, or leaf abuts the vertical wood frame which, as shown in FIG. 1, happens to be frame 14.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have produced an improved door and an improved method of making the same whereby a finished door can be made quickly and inexpensively and without any special skill. For example, the frame, being wholly concealed, can be made of rough, knotty wood and need not be finished nor accurately measured. It only need present adequate, and flush surfaces on to which the inner hard board side walls may be glued. The same is true of the outer enamelled or porcelained side walls which can vary slightly in size and which can have rough edges because these and other peripheral defects are concealed by the trimming and binding extrusions. The presently available cements which are powerful and nonhygroscopic make a very firm and permanent bond which, together with the forced fit of the extrusions described, produce a permanent bond.

It will also be seen that according to my method, the mass produced inner side walls are glued to the mass produced inner frames; the mass produced outer side walls are glued to the inner side walls, and trimming and clamping extrusions are force-fitted and cemented to the marginal portions of the laminated side walls.

What I claim is:

1. A door including:

side and upper and lower frame members secured together to form a frame,

inner hard board side panels secured to opposite sides of said frame and providing an insulation-receiving space therebetween,

outer metallic panels secured to the outer surfaces of said inner panels,

similar trim pieces for the vertical sides and for the top and bottom sills of the door,

each of said trim pieces including spaced limbs and an intermediate bight portion,

the space between the inner faces of said limbs being such as tightly to receive an edge of the door,

each of said trim pieces also including a substantially central pad adapted to abut the adjacent frame member,

means securing said pad to said frame member and securing said limbs to said outer panels,

the outer faces of said frame members coacting with the inner faces of said inner panels to form grooves, and

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,549,414 4/1951 Bonnell 52-623 X 2,636,189 4/1953 Feldman 52-627 2,743,980 5/1956 Hobbs 52-623 2,833,004 5/1958 Johnson et al. 52-621 3,014,561 12/1961 Ratner et al 52-621 X 3,121,264 2/1964 Hammar 52-621 X 3,208,564 9/1965 Sitterly 52-616 X 3,235,040 2/1966 Ellis 52-623 FOREIGN PATENTS 511,824 8/1939 Great Britain.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

PHILIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DOOR INCLUDING: SIDE AND UPPER AND LOWER FRAME MEMBERS SECURED TOGETHER TO FORM A FRAME, INNER HARD BOARD SIDE PANELS SECURED TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID FRAME AND PROVIDING AN INSULATION-RECEIVING SPACE THEREBETWEEN, OUTER METALLIC PANELS SECURED TO THE OUTER SURFACES OF SAID INNER PANELS, SIMILAR TRIM PIECES FOR THE VERTICAL SIDES AND FOR THE TOP AND BOTTOM SILLS OF THE DOOR, EACH OF SAID TRIM PIECES INCLUDING SPACED LIMBS BEING INTERMEDIATE BIGHT PORTION, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE INNER FACES OF SAID LIMBS BEING SUCH AS TIGHTLY TO RECEIVE AN EDGE OF THE DOOR, EACH OF SAID TRIM PIECES ALSO INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRAL PAD ADAPTED TO ABUT THE ADJACENT FRAME MEMBER, MEANS SECURING SAID PAD TO SAID FRAME MEMBER AND SECURING SAID LIMBS TO SAID OUTER PANELS, THE OUTER FACES OF SAID FRAME MEMBERS COACTING WITH THE INNER FACES OF SAID INNER PANELS TO FORM GROOVES, AND WALLS CARRIED BY SAID TRIM PIECES AND SPACED INWARDLY FROM SAID OUTER LIMBS AND ENGAGING SAID GROOVES. 